Peripheral Lymphocyte Count and Viral Clearance in COVID-19

The objective of the study was to investigate whether the peripheral lymphocyte count was independently negative association with viral clearance time of SARS-CoV-2 in Chinese patients with COVID-19. Total 202 patients were chosen for the last data analysis. The patients' mean age was 41.39±12.47 years. Male was accounted for 48.51% and female was 51.49% respectively. The average viral clearance time was 19.40±9.03 days. Adjusted linear regression result showed peripheral lymphocyte count was associated with viral clearance time negatively after adjusting confounders (β, -2.79; 95% CI, -5.21 to -0.36). The trend of peripheral lymphocyte count treated as a categorical variable in linear regression was also consistent with the result when peripheral lymphocyte count was treated as a continuous variable. There was a negative association between peripheral lymphocyte count and viral clearance time of SARS-CoV-2 in Chinese patients with COVID-19. Key Words: Peripheral lymphocyte count, Viral clearance, COVID-19.